Grangemouth's new STS arrives

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The heavy load carrier Eemslift Ellen has transported all the sections of a brand-new Liebherr ship-to-shore (STS) gantry to Forth Ports' Grangemouth.

The STS, designed and built in Liebherr's facility in Killarney, South West Ireland, will be now assembled by the expert build team from Liebherr on site at the port. The 45 m-high and 524t-heavy gantry is to be ready to lift its first cargo by late October. Once online, it will be able to take care of container ships up to 14 box rows-wide.

"This is an exciting time for the port as we welcome our new ship-to-shore crane. We handle some of Scotland's most valuable exports, such as fine foods and drinks, so it is important that we deliver fast turnaround times to maintain the vessel schedules and ensure their reliability to service the Scottish export market. The new crane adds to our fleet of Liebherr ship-to-shore cranes and will provide consistency for the operations and engineering team. The Liebherr team will build the crane like a giant Meccano set over the coming weeks and we look forward to its introduction to our operations for the benefit of our customers in the autumn," Derek Knox, Port Manager, the Port of Grangemouth, commented.

Gerry Bunyan, Sales and Marketing Manager, Liebherr Container Cranes, added, "In 2006 the Port of Grangemouth received its first Liebherr ship-to-shore container crane, a second followed the year after. Since that time, the cranes have been key components in the port's success. We are thrilled to be able to continue our partnership and supply a third container crane to the port. It is particularly satisfying when a customer recognises the value that a Liebherr container crane can bring to their operation. We look forward to watching this crane help to increase further the business at Scotland's leading container port."

Earlier this year, the Port of Grangemouth installed a new terminal operating system as well as put in place additional storage capacity. By end-December, a new 100k sq ft-big warehouse is to be completed as well.